Secondary school admissions appeals

[FelineLou]

I attend these appeals as a panel member. I want to emphasize the need for unemotional, genuine reasons for the appeal together with paperwork which helps to prove your arguments.
e.g. No good saying "he cant climb stairs" without a doctors note about that.
I feel for all the parents in this situation but we do have criteria to stick to and we cannot make extra places in a very popular school.
Don't assume that just because you appeal you must get a place: more appeals fail than succeed.
We try to be informal and are aware that it is a difficult time for you but there is a structured procedure to go through.
Read all the advice in leaflets and online before presenting your case.

Think of it from the panel's pov. The school with the best results is full (that is why you are having to appeal in the first place), so somebody (in fact, probably quite a few somebodies) is going to have to go to the school with the less satisfactory results.

Is there any reason why that should be somebody else's child rather than yours?

An appeal to a full school really needs to show why your child can't be expected to put up with their lot as well as the other children who are in the same situation. You only have the interests of your child at heart: the panel has to think of the interests of all the children (including the ones in the popular school who would suffer if their school became over-crowded). They may have 50 appeals to the same school to deal with; they can't let them all in because there isn't the physical space.

Hi there,
I have submitted my appeal to an academy and awaiting a hearing date. I have sent the school a number of questions to prepare my case and they have refused to send them stating that ' all of these matters will be dealt with at the appeal hearing itself, where the school will provide information and answer any questions you may have as a result.'

I am certain that they have an obligation under the freedom of information act or appeals code to answer these. Can anyone advise please? x

There is an obligation within the school admission appeal guidance in paragraph 2.8. It says "admission authorities must comply with reasonable requests from parents for information which they need to help them prepare their case for appeal. "

Hello, I wonder if anyone might be able to help me. I have my dd appeal for a secondary school next week. D did not get a place in our catchment school which is o/s. Over the last 2 years the school has taken a bulge class, but this year has reduced its Yr 7 PAN back to 300 from 330 last year. My d was allocated a school in district (though not our catchment school) but it is single sex and we desperately wanted co-ed. Anyhow, it is a maintained school so the AA is the local authority and I have asked for but not received net capacity assessments and some other information. I have also not yet received the AA's paperwork/written case which I have chased today. I have found discrepancies between the LA published planning/consultation documents which suggest the school has a net capacity of 1775 in 2018 and 1611 in 2019 - currently there are only 1552 on the roll. I don't understand how a school can have such a large under-utilised physical capacity but limit its PAN. I have read that the LA aims to achieve a 5% capacity buffer at each if its maintained secondary schools as per National Audit Office advice, but the purpose of the capacity buffer (according to the NAO advice) is to enable parental choice and operational flexibility. If the higher net capacity figure is correct then the school is operating well below this capacity level - do I have a chance at establishing the PAN is too low or am I barking up the wrong tree? The school has confirmed it is fully staffed in line with funding availability. I just wondered if anyone had every tried this tack before and whether they had any thoughts/advice? My stage 2 case is not overwhelmingly strong, but I have made various arguments regarding the suitability of the school for my d and her specific academic strengths (it is a specialist school), social/community (all her friends from our village have been allocated places at catchment). She is extremely upset - and I just want to give her the best possible shot. Very grateful for any advice!

If you have appeal next week and not have had the schools case and other documentation about the appeal, then you need to be urgently contacting the Admission Authority to tell them this. You should then also bring up the issue at the appeal that the timing was not good.
In terms of net capacity data etc, if you have written confirmation of asking the questions and have not received the official information then this also needs to be raised during part 1 of the appeal as they should have supplied the information.
Taking a bulge class is fairly common now, so I do not think that greatly helps your particular case other than proving that the school can handle more pupils than the 300 in the year group.
If the PAN is 300 then there will be 1500 places in years 7 to 11. Is there a sixth form or not because whilst they will be counted as part of the net capacity of the school, the admission level will be less than the 300 in year 7. If there is not a sixth form then you are correct in saying that the PAN seems to be at odds to any of the net capacity of the school.
The net capacity of the school is a calculated figure based on measurement of appropriate rooms in the school. That gives what is deemed the maximum net capacity for pupils in the school. Normally the school then is given the leeway of choosing a sensible PAN to fit between the maximum net capacity and 90% of the maximum. So if the maximum net capacity is 1500, then 90% of net capacity would be 1350. The school would then set the PAN probably at 1350, which is 45 classes of 30 or alternatively at 1410 which would be 47 classes of 30. I am not sure whether this is what the NAO is referring to or whether this is something different but again you should bring this up at part 1 of the appeal.You need to have written evidence of the LA wanting this to happen for the panel, they will not just take your word for it.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me - that is really helpful. I contacted the Appeals Administrator yesterday explaining that I've not had information requested and also not received the AA's case - still waiting to hear back. I will chase them again. I will be printing off all the correspondence and providing it to the panel as I feel they have not been overly helpful and I believe I am entitled to a reasonable amount of time to consider their case - I had to give notice on 28 March and they've had all additional paperwork since 8 April. I've only asked for standard information (class sizes/net capacity assessments/ numbers on roll/pan etc) - nothing unusual. There is no 6th form at the school (it is Yr7-11 only) and this is why I thought the figures were strange as it seems they are operating at about 82% of physical capacity depending on what top end figure is correct. The school had an extension in 2015 which presumably accounts for the larger physical capacity. The LA produces a consultation document every year for planning school places and that says that a school is deemed full if it is operating at 95% capacity according to National Audit Office advice and that the LA aims to create a 5% buffer as they say the school was operating at 96%. However, the percentages they detail and the numbers for NC and NOR don't tie up with what they are saying - in 2017 they were operating at 82% capacity and the top figure for net capacity has changed from one year to the next (going down from 1775 in 2017 to 1611 in 2018) but there is no explanation for the reduction - I've included the relevant paperwork with my d's appeal and asked for an explanation. I've contacted the school directly and they've confirmed that they are fully staffed in line with funding levels. Am I correct in thinking that if the school has to take additional children as a result of an appeal, the school will receive additional funding? Thanks

I'm no expert but I'm sure the school gets the same per head for a child admitted at appeal as for any other child

That is what I thought - makes sense! Thanks

Hi there, my appeal is next week and the school which is an academy is saying that if my child is admitted the school would not receive funding for her and would suffer financial hardship. Is this trie? I can’t find any evidence to support or negate this?

Leosmummy - it is true but it is only a minor point unless they end up with lots of children admitted over PAN.

Schools are funded based on the number of children on roll on autumn census day which is in October. This determines the funding the school get for the Following year (so the number of children in Oct 18 determined the funding the school get for 2019/20).

So their point is that if they had say a year full up to PAN of say 180 in Oct 18, that determines their funding for this Sept onwards. If they are forced to take over PAN due to appeals and end up with say 182, those other 2 children are not funded for 19/20.

In reality all schools will say this as part of the prejudice argument, alongside only having enough chairs/ipads/pcs for 30 in a class, narrow corridors, etc etc. It is true, but it's only a minor point unless they end up with a fair number of pupils over the census number.

PatriciaHolm- thank you so much for your reply! I’m very grateful!